MAJOR dejunking/culling--do you sell, donate, garage sale or ???

[Ottakee]

A friend and I were talking yesterday about how we have too much stuff and the STUFF is taking time away from important things. We have to clean it, move it, store it, etc.

 

I find that my kids have too many shoes so they leave them all over the place as they really have another pair anyway so they can use them. Then eventually we can't find any of them but there is so much other junk around that the shoes are hiding under.

 

Same with clothes, toys, etc. Now they DO play with all of their toys but I think they could be just as happy (once the initial process was over) with less.

 

If you do this, do you sell the stuff you are getting rid of? Like on Craig's list, etc? Garage sales really don't work in our rural area? How about Freecycle? Do you just donate it all to a charity/thrift place even if you could get money for it?

 

I know that I could sell some of the stuff but it is really worth my time and effort to list it, email/call people, have people come over (not always sure who they are), etc. for $5-10 items?

 

I might sell the Playmobil stuff--or at least some of it if the younger nieces and nephews don't want it. Possibly the horse toys as well.

 

Other than that, is it really worth it or do you just GET RID OF IT?

 

Oh, and where do you start---the easiest room in the house or the worst one? Adult stuff or kid stuff?

[yslek]

I usually donate, because if I were to wait to list/sell stuff or hold a garage sale, it would be here forever. :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm in the midst of decluttering (sort of...got to a good start, but surprise pregnancy w/ accompanying "morning" sickness & extreme fatigue have put a halt to it for now) based on the advice in this book: http://www.amazon.com/House-That-Cleans-Itself-Solutions/dp/0736918809/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247675920&sr=8-1, with a few ideas from this one thrown in: http://www.amazon.com/Organizing-Your-Brain-Type-Solution/dp/0312339771/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247675950&sr=1-1.

 

The first book has some concrete ideas on what order to declutter in. (She says to start in the entry way. After that, you could work around your house from room to room, or go in order of rooms that need it most, or are most visible. She does say to stick with one room until you're done before moving on to the next. One of the first activities is to sketch a rough floor plan of your home, and label the rooms in the order you want to work on them, the entry way being #1.) I've only actually managed to complete the entry way so far (we are also repainting the rooms in conjunction with decluttering, which takes extra time.) It's amazing how self-cleaning it really is. I haven't even tidied it up in a couple of months, but it's still in pretty good shape. Needs to be vacuumed, though... :D

 

HTH

[melis108]

I usually just give it all away. That makes it SO much easier than trying to sell stuff. BUT, if I need to raise money for something, I will take the time to sell things.

[Tracy in Ky]

I've been weeks working on our house--cleaning, dejunking, and organizing. I've given some stuff away and sold a very few items. Mainly I'm throwing it away.

[unsinkable]

Ottakee,

 

I am going thru this right now.

 

I am donating any clothing that is in beautiful shape (which isn't much!)

 

Most books & magazines are being donated to the library.

 

I am planning a garage sale that will mainly be toys. We live in a suburb so it is easier for me than you since you're rural.

 

We have a massive amount of Rescue Heroes that we'll try to sell as a lot on Craigslist if it doesn't go at the garage sale.

 

So far I've tossed 22 thirty-three gallon garbage bags worth of stuff. I've donated 16 grocery bags of books & magazines & 3 thirty-three gallon bags of clothing.

 

Most of what I was hanging onto was b/c of delayed decision making & reluctance to throw out something that was semi-good (like a sweatshirt that had a rip --- most of it was good! I could use it for...) I threw out so much paperwork but I still have a ton to go through.

 

But I've "RECLAIMED" most of the finished portion of my basement. It feels so good and freeing.

 

As to where to start:

 

I promised my boys that I'd clean the finished portion of the basement so they could move their XBox stuff down there. But, in order to do that, I had to clean the unfinished portion out first. Once I made some space, I could take stuff from the finished portion that belonged in the back & reclaim the space. Stuff like: holiday decor, camping stuff, winter coats & boots, hockey equipment.

 

As I made space & I could walk thru the unfinished portion, I was so energized! My husband said I was in a zone.

 

So my advice is to start where you'd see the most progress. It is an emotional and mental boost to see what you've accomplished.

 

Here is another nerdy thing I did: I wrote why I wanted to do this & hung it up in the basement where I'd see it. On the TV show Clean House, the hostess always said the cluttered houses were filled with clutter, mayhem & foolishness. My mantra became "Order, Peace & Wisdom." When I got discouraged, I'd read my mantra & keep pushing forward.

 

HTH!

[abreakfromlife]

If it's something big, I'll freecycle it. Most stuff gets chucked or goes to Goodwill. I hate finding old nasty stuff at goodwill or garage sales so if it's really lame, I throw it out. If it's something that is actually worth money, like Playmobil, I would ebay it. I would never get rid of playmobil, so that's a moot point for me - but if you are, wait until november and put it on ebay. People are buying for christmas and that stuff goes for big bucks.

[lilbean05]

We did a garage sale of our big items, and sold a good portion of them (furniture pieces, mostly). I craigslisted a queen mattress, boxspring, and rails for $50 and lots of people were interested. I am trying to consign an entertainment center, but not sure if it will go through. If not, then I will donate it to the Airman's Attic, a consignment shop on Airforce bases that takes donated goods and sells them to military folks for cheap. Most of the other stuff is going into the garbage unless it is in great condition to donate.

 

I second the play mobile idea. Totally list it on ebay near Christmas. We did this with old G.I. Joe toys two years ago and grossed nearly $800.00 from about 10 transactions. It was fabulous.

[Renee in NC]

We did all of the above.

 

We sold some stuff on Craigslist.

 

We had a yard sale and sold more.

 

We donated anything in good shape to the thrift store. I was going to take the clothes to a consignment sale, but we were moving too soon. The consignment stores down here in FL didn't want our winter clothes?!:tongue_smilie:

 

We took a bunch of stuff to the "swap shop" at our recycling center (you can leave usable stuff for others to take - freecycle without the hassle.)

 

We junked, recycled, and threw a lot out.

 

I had to majorly pare my stuff down to move. When I unpack, we will get rid of more - it has been amazing what we can live without! That stuff I will sell because I have gotten rid of all the junk.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I donate most things, give a few away. I rarely sell anything. My time is generally more valuable to me than the little bit of money I would get for most things. I don't think of it as throwing stuff away; I'm just sharing our blessings! I learned that from Flylady. Also, I don't let things accumulate. As soon as I decide to get rid of something, it goes into the back of the car. The next time I'm out, and have 3 minutes to spare, I drop it off at the local thrift shop.

 

Of course, going into the thrift shop can be counter-productive, as I often bring something else home with me! Sometimes it's very good things (yesterday it was WriteShop!) But, overall, it helps me to just be rid of things.

[Zebra]

I give everything away except some hs curriculum. I have people I give clothes to, I donate books to the library, anything else that's in good shape I give to goodwill or the salvation army. Several big things I have given away on Craig's list. There have been times I have left things out on the lawn with a "free" sign too.

 

It feels good to have a decluttered house, and it feels good to pay it forward by donating stuff. I think if everyone gave away everything they could, the whole world would have everything they needed :tongue_smilie::lol:!!!!!

[Ottakee]

Now, just to get STARTED on this.

 

My girls are going to have fits. They are both savers and play with EVERYTHING they own. They just don't need that much.

 

How do you scale back on things like shoes?

 

We have:

barn boots (the rubber ones for mucking out stalls, chores, etc)

riding boots

winter boots

tennis shoes

dress shoes

crocs

dress sandals

walking shoes

 

multiply that by 5 people and that is a lot of shoes.

[Karen sn]

In the middle of this myself.

I am going to craigslist the furniture this week.

Garage sale in a few weeks.

Whatever doesn't sell - to the thrift store that I love because she doesn't rip any one off.

 

I started in the office. Even cleaned out the filing cabinets of paper that i just don't need anymore.

 

I have boxes that I am labeling with numbers and I have a sheet with the #s and what's in it - these will not be unpacked for YEARS. I will own a house and then unpack it. Kitchen stuff and clothes will be in boxes (no numbers- just labelled) and we can unpack what we need to use daily.

 

I agree with your comment on how the stuff is taking away from life.

I want less to clean, move, store, dust, organize......

Playing in the park and on the beach with my kids and spending time with friends and family is now the priority.

We're paring down and moving home!

[yvonne]

I'm trying to do a major declutter also. It would make my husband so happy not to be tripping over stuff all the time. Most of my stuff is books, but there are also too many toys.

 

Last summer, I had a garage sale. Having a garage sale requires piling the stuff up somewhere (ie, just moving the clutter from one place to another, hopefully temporary, place.)

 

This summer, I've been giving stuff away & it's much more satisfying and effective as far as getting stuff OUT of the house and getting done. Anything good & child-related I post to the local homeschool lists. Anything else, I post to free-cycle. It feels much more satisfying to give stuff to people who can use it, esp. other homeschoolers, than it does to sell it for pennies on the dollar at a garage sale. And that sense of satisfaction motivates me to get rid of even more!

 

yvonne

[Dobela]

I have seriously tried to go down to one or 2 of something if I can't get to 0 LOL. For shoes it depends. My son is very hard on shoes but i still have one "nice" pair of tennis shoes, one play pair, 2 pair of sandles, and one pair of church shoes. Some times I have 2 pair of play tennis shoes so I can wash one while he is wearing the other (Same reasoning for sandals). For myself I have 2 skirts for church - one black, one denim-that will go with about any top I own. I do have more jeans -4 pair I think- and then some capris and one pair of black dress slacks. I don't own any dresses any more and if I did, since I only wear them to church I would have maybe 2. I have really been following the "if you haven't worn it in a year, you don't need it" rule. My closets are so much better! However, I will admit I have way, way more shoes than anyone else in the family. A couple of years ago my mom went to a going out of business sale and bought me 20 pairs of shoes for $1 a pair - stuff like Birkenstocks. They fit and last well. And since it is more expensive to replace them than it is to keep them, I am wearing a pair or 2 at a time and wearing them out before going to the next pair.

 

For toys, I just purge anyway. I keep a box in the closet for books and magazines. As I read them and decide I don't want them they go in the box and I take them to the library when it is full.

 

I am taking some of my kids clothes to a consignment sale. The rest I am pssing on to friends with younger children. The clothes that don't sell, I will donate. I won't be having a yard sale because it is too hot right now and a lot of work. I also don't have a garage or carport in front of my house to hold it in. Besides, I have been blessed by hand-me-downs and thrift store finds so I have decided to keep passing it forward.

 

I do some Freecycle, but in my area no shows are regular pains. We don't have a local craigs list so that isn't a possibility. I do offer some things for sale on a local sale board but since I don't like strangers coming to my house I keep that to a minimum.

 

For me the key is just getting it out quickly. Set a date for a sale and actually do it or set a day to fill the car and take donations to town. Otherwise I just end up with boxes of stuff somewhere that I know I don't want but haven't gotten rid of.

[joannqn]

I just finished doing most of the house. I chose to take the easiest and fastest route of getting stuff out of my house. I tossed most of it (trip to the dump and using the Call2Haul program where they pick up). I donated only the best things by dropping them off at the Goodwill 1/2 mile away; I didn't even bother getting a receipt because I didn't want to take the time to itemize it for taxes. By getting it out of the house as fast as possible, it actually left the house. I've found that, for me, putting it aside to sell (or itemize for tax deduction) often meant it just sat in my house still cluttering it up. Because I did it this way, I accomplished so much more decluttering than normal...even being very pregnant while doing it.

[Radish4ever]

I love using freecycle!

If it's a pricier item and I think i could make some $$, I will post it on a local buy/sell/trade board or Craigslist... otherwise, I usually donate it!!!!!

 

What I love is that as I clean a room of, say, toys - I can post on freecycle that I have a trashbag of toys that I need gone ASAP and I can have those puppies OUT OF MY LIFE within less than 24 hours. LOL Sometimes within 2 hours!

Then I can move on and get rid of, say a small box of magazines, etc.

It's a get rid of as I go system and I love it!!!

 

 

I've gotten so many awesome freebies from freecycle that I kind of feel like I "owe" it to others to give back too :)

[kdeno]

I try to give to friends or place in one of those donation bins. Freecycle and thrift stores are counterproductive for me :-) I place larger items on my front lawn with a free sign or send out an email to friends. I think the garage sale and craig's list/ebay ideas are great too if you have time.

 

Kari

[joannqn]

I try to give to friends or place in one of those donation bins. Freecycle and thrift stores are counterproductive for me :-) I place larger items on my front lawn with a free sign or send out an email to friends. I think the garage sale and craig's list/ebay ideas are great too if you have time.

 

Kari

 

I found Freecycle to be more of a pain than it was worth. I'd arrange my day around a pick up only to have the person not show...multiple times...or have multiple people not show. So, I quit Freecycle.

 

We place larger items out by the curb also. We live on a busy arterial and things disappear quickly. You'd be surprised what people will take from the curb...

 

a well-used (and looked it) girls bike

a boys bike with a huge hole in one tire, very worn other tire, hole in seat

Easy Bake oven w/accessories

 

We put out a Call2Haul load (local program where the city picks up loads for the dump) and had people taking broken things from the pile before the Call2Haul people showed up. They took a broken carpet shampooer, a dollhouse missing 1/3 of its roof, and a bag or two of old toys that were either missing parts or were broken.

[Stacia]

If you need inspiration to dejunk (or why to do it & how to do it), see if your library has It's All Too Much. I think it has some great advice.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

Take the tax write-off, estimating value at yard sale prices, or slightly above that. You should be safe from scrutiny with those values on your items. Write up a list of general items, amounts, and prices and put it in your tax file for next April.

[Ottakee]

Thanks. I just requested this book and the others mentioned on this thread from the library.

 

I am even cutting back on the number of books :eek: that we have here in the house. We have a great library system so we are keeping classics, our favorites and then reference books. We don't need a lot of fiction, magazines, etc. as we can just get them from the library.

 

If you need inspiration to dejunk (or why to do it & how to do it), see if your library has It's All Too Much. I think it has some great advice.

[iquilt]

Donate most of it, with any special items (or toys in great shape) offered to friends first. We are in the process of moving across town and have taken advantage of the opportunity to purge what we do not need. It's been a great process for our entire family!

[Peela]

I donate 90% of the clutter and no longer used stuff that I want out of the house. It is just not worth the time and trouble for a few $ for me.

I will try and resell hoemschooling curriculum, but even that can be a pain in the a*se. Last time I did it, I had people asking if they could wait till they got back from their overseas trip before they paid me, and several who said they wanted to buy but then never responded again.

If its worth more than $20 or $30 I will probably try and sell it somehow. But I rarely bother with anything less than that.

 

THe other serious issue I have is that my family do not like me decluttering, and if I leave bags or boxes of "stuff" around waiting to sell, pretty soon one by one they come and take things back. I am a sneaky declutterer. I know my family are all pack rats. THe only way I can declutter is by stealth. So it needs to go straight into the boot of my car and to the charity shops on my next trip.

[Ottakee]

THe other serious issue I have is that my family do not like me decluttering, and if I leave bags or boxes of "stuff" around waiting to sell, pretty soon one by one they come and take things back. I am a sneaky declutterer. I know my family are all pack rats. THe only way I can declutter is by stealth. So it needs to go straight into the boot of my car and to the charity shops on my next trip.

 

I had to laugh at this as I face the same thing. My dd is missing her Sponge Bob ceramic bank that was empty, broke into many pieces and taped together. I missed getting 1 bag of stuffed animals out before she got home but those will be easy to gather up again.

 

I have a load to drop off at charity today but I can't do it until I drop the kids off to speech therapy........otherwise I will have fits over what I am donating.

 

When I dejunk, I often keep 21ds home with me to help carry things to the garbage (and bury them under other household trash), carry things to the car to hide for charity, etc. Dejunking when the girls are home is very hard as they want to keep EVERYTHING.

[Carrie12345]

I'm gearing up for a major culling.

I hate the thought of throwing things away, but I also know that spending a lot of time cleaning up and listing items for sale will slow me down. So, I'm going to focus on just selling the higher end items, donating as much as possible, and chucking the rest.

 

Theoretically, I should only have to do this once, anyway. :lol:

[Tami]

FLYlady has changed my life!!!

 

You wouldn't believe how my house looked before I started FLYing. I would follow her Zone of the Week, and work your way out of the clutter one Zone at a time. It's very do-able, and there is lots of support and humor to be had with FLYlady!

 

EDIT: To directly answer your question, I GIVE IT AWAY. Either to other homeschoolers, or to the Salvation Army. Keeping stuff for sales paralyzed me, overwhelmed me, and kept the house cluttered. I decided I need the space and the peace more! Release the clutter and let it find a new home with somebody who needs it.

Edited July 16, 2009 by Tami

[Katiebug_1976]

Even though we live a few miles outside of town, yard sales still work for us. We have one almost every summer just to keep the clutter down. There is also a "Just Between Friends" childrens consignment sale that goes on twice a year in town. That's another way I get rid of my kids out grown cloths, toys, books, baby stuff etc. While it takes more work to sell instead of to haul off these things, we are on a very limited budget, so every extra dollar helps. I guess that is what motivates me to expend the extra effort.